"He's lost too much blood. The toxin is spreading along his shoulder, his left arm muscles are torn, and his abdominal wound has torn open again. Get him back to the village immediately. We can't delay here."
Chisen opened his eyes. "Shikamaru."
Shikamaru leaned down.
"What now?"
"Hamura Jaku isn't dead."
"I know."
"He'll come again."
Shikamaru stared at him.
"Then let him wait until you can get out of bed."
Chisen fell silent for a moment.
"Helian will know I've returned to the village."
"Let him know," Shikamaru said coldly. "In your condition, he could guess even if he didn't know."
Chisen wanted to say more, but the medical ninja couldn't hold back. "Lord Chisen, your blood pressure drops every time you speak."
Shikamaru immediately said, "Hear that?"
Chisen finally closed his eyes.
Kiba muttered beside them, "So it takes a medical ninja to get through to him."
Shikamaru looked down at the blood on his hands.
"He doesn't want to owe me."
For a moment, Kiba had no answer.
After a while, he said, "Shikamaru."
"Yeah?"
"Can that Brand really keep tracking him forever?"
Shikamaru watched them lift the stretcher, his gaze grim.
"If Hamura Jaku wasn't lying, probably."
Kiba cursed under his breath. "So wherever he goes from now on, Helian will know?"
"That's why it's a pain," Shikamaru said. "A serious pain."
"Lady Tsunade can remove it, right?"
Shikamaru fell silent for a moment.
"She'd better be able to."
They were escorted all the way back to Konoha.
When the village gates opened in the morning light, every gate guard's expression changed at the sight of Chisen lying on the stretcher, covered in blood. One instinctively started to ask, but a look from Shikamaru stopped him.
"Keep this quiet. Report it as a mission injury. No